Great Car Rental Company for Outdoor Enthusiasts

I recently came to know about a car rental company here in Salt Lake City. The company is called Western Road Trips. They had a different approach to the game. They rent hybrid and camper vans. The type of cars you can’t typically get from Hertz or Dollar. Those wishing to rough it or take road trips, this is a great alternative. Hotel not needed with the pop up Volkswagen Camper Vans. However if you are just looking to minimize your carbon footprint while driving around you can rent one of their Prius’s or their Honda Elements. Either way they provide a sorely needed alternative to the big chain rental car rentals. I hear they fill up fast for the summer, so if you’re interested call them sooner than later.

They will even pick you up at the airport to give you you’re car. I met the owners and he seems to be very customer service oriented. I would suggest giving it a try for the next camping, climbing, biking or any other type of outdoor road trip in the Mountain West area.

Written by admin on June 4th, 2008 with no comments.
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Are Nalgene’s Really that Bad?

I’ve heard a lot lately about Plastic Nalgene bottles leach bisphenol-A into whatever you are drinking. While Nalgene bottles are supposed to be medical grade there is a possibility that they do leach BPA. There is some evidence that this occurs. So much so that Nalgene has already said they are pulling all their old bottles off the market and putting out new product that doesn’t contain BPA. In the mean time authorities are suggesting people use Stainless Steel water bottles such as Guyot Designs “The Bottle” or Sigg Bottles.

These bottles are great alternatives. They are a little more expensive so if you lose bottles as much as I do then it could be a problem. Stainless bottles do look very nice but another down side is that you can’t see through them. No more using it as a measuring cup in camp. They also dent if you get too rough with them. The sacrifices we to make to maintain our health I suppose. For now I’ve retired the sticker clad beat up Nalgenes in favor for a nice stainless steel bottle. It does add an air of sophistication to any camping setup. Just be even more aware of hot liquids since steel conducts heat a lot quicker than plastic.

Written by admin on May 13th, 2008 with no comments.
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Environmental Digg News Site

For all of those who like to hear about whats going on in the crusade to save the earth Hugg.com should be in your bookmarks. This site is just like Digg but only deals with environmental news. Its a great place to find out whats happening. Looking on it today I found that there was a sighting of the thought to be extinct Baiji dolphin. I also found an article explaining why ethanol fuel contributes more to global warming than gasoline. Apparently more CO2 is produced when using ethanol in your car than when using gasoline.

Get informed with the latest green news because its as simple as checking out Hugg.com.

Written by admin on August 31st, 2007 with no comments.
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What’s your Carbon Footprint

I keep hearing about carbon footprints and how we should try and minimized or offset them. Here is the definition. A carbon footprint is the total amount of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, emitted over the full life cycle of a product or service. It is expressed as grams of CO2 equivalents, which accounts for the different global warming effects of different greenhouse gases (Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology POST, 2006).

With global warming awareness at an all time, people are pushing for carbon reduction. People and corporations are under scrutiny to reduce their carbon emissions. Going green is the new business fad. At this year’s Outdoor Retail show, the owners of the show inked a deal with the City of Salt Lake within a couple of years all the electricity to power the OR show must be sustainable.

So what can we do to minimize our footprint.

We can make our homes more energy efficient.
Use adjustable thermostats in for our AC and furnaces
Turn off and unplug all electronics when going on vacation (even standby mode uses some energy)
Close doors to unused rooms
Use energy efficient lights such compact fluorescent lightbulbs
Clean all filters to heating and cooling devices (makes the appliance work less when they get clean air)
Wash dishes manually or only using the dishwasher when its full
Walk or ride a bike instead of driving a car
Recycle as much as possible
Plant trees to shade your house and paint your interior light for warm climates and dark if you live in cold climates
Turn the refrigerator down
Buy Energystar appliances when you need to replace old ones
Slow down and drive more efficiently. When you drive fast and accelerate quickly you burn more gas
Plant more plants to help absorb CO2

There are lots of ways to reduce waste we generate. Some others include paperless statements for bills and using biofuels. However we choose to do it a little bit can go a long ways. Here at Campman we use boxes that have already been used to ship something. So if you get a box that doesn’t look right then you should know that we use 100% recycled boxes. We also pay for sustainable wind energy to power our office.

So this Labor Day drive a little less or plant a couple of trees to offset your driving.

Written by admin on August 29th, 2007 with 1 comment.
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Low flows in Yellowstone are calling for voluntary fishing closures

Well the snow has been so bad this year that they are calling for closures on a lot of the water in the park. The water temperatures are too warm and put significant stress on the fish which catching one could prove lethal. Its too bad because late July and August are usually a great time to head up to the park for hopper fishing.

I happened to visit the park this last weekend and fish the grand canyon of the Yellowstone. The fishing was good but the water was low. Many other rivers are showing the effects of the bad snow pack. So be wary when fishing and help preserve the fish. Don’t fish during the voluntary closures or at least check the water temp and make sure the water is cool enough.

There are many rivers that are fishing well right now. The Madison, Big Horn, and Green River are just a few. Book a trip with the local outfitter today.

If you need to satisfy that fishing urge in the mountain west go find a tail water fishery and tight lines.

Written by admin on July 24th, 2007 with no comments.
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Don’t Bug Me Patch - A great way to protect your kids in the outdoors

I saw the Don’t Bug Me Patches a couple of months ago and was very curious about them. I decided to give them a try and see if they really worked. Every year I go up to Island Park, ID ,right outside of Yellowstone National Park, during the end of June. There are always lots of mosquitoes around in the evenings.

So I thought this would be a perfect way to test the patches. I even convinced my sister to put in on my nephew (2 years old). Well this is the first year I have walked away without a bite. Also as soon as my nephew put one on he long longer was being bitten either. I couldn’t believe it. The downsides to the patches is when I purchased them, they did initially smell like a medicine cabinet. However I the box air out a bit and the smell disappeared. Also you have to put them on two hours before they will take effect. Anyways I’m totally sold on these things. If you put them on ahead of time they are fantastic.

Written by admin on July 13th, 2007 with 1 comment.
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The Green Way of Handling Junk Mail

A friend sent me a link to this service. Green Dimes is a service that will contact junk mailers and get you off their list. This works for credit card companies and catalog mailers. The service is $36 dollars for the year and they plant a tree every month for you as well. You can also add another person of the same household for $3 more. Essentially the service costs a dime a day. While they are for profit, I like the idea and it is good for the environment.

Check out the site for more details and statistics on how many trees and water consumption you can conserve.

Written by admin on April 27th, 2007 with no comments.
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